NGO unveils alleged role of Gus Dur in Rp 35b Bulog scam

NGO unveils alleged role of Gus Dur in Rp 35b Bulog scam

JAKARTA (JP): Government Watch (Gowa), a non-governmental
organization that first disclosed the controversial Rp 35 billion
scam at the State Logistics Agency (Bulog), revealed on Friday
the alleged role of President Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid in the
scandal.

Gowa coordinator Farid Faqih told a news conference that
Abdurrahman was allegedly involved in the scam in which billions
of rupiah were taken from Bulog's employee foundation Yanatera.
Farid alleged that Gowa had discovered that the President had
once asked Yusuf Kalla, the then minister of industry and trade,
how to disburse Bulog money.

Gowa charged that the President intended to obtain the Rp 35
billion from Bulog while refusing to issue an official guarantee
for the money.

"It's weird that the President did not want to issue a decree
if he had good intentions concerning the money," he added.

During the news briefing, Gowa also pointed a finger at
Minister of Foreign Affairs Alwi Shihab, saying that he knew
about the scandal.

"We are certain that he (Alwi) asked Yusuf about the money.
The conversation occurred when Yusuf was on his way home (to the
South Sulawesi capital of Makassar) from his office here," Farid
said.

Yusuf left his post at the request of Gus Dur on April 24.

According to Farid, the money may not have gone to Alwi's bank
account, but the foreign minister knew about the plan to disburse
money belonging to Bulog from the very beginning.

He gave no further explanation.

The President has insisted he knows nothing about the Rp 35
billion from Bulog and claims that Suwondo, the missing key
suspect in the case, previously worked for former president
Soeharto.

Minister Alwi said recently that he was as clean as a whistle
and has denied any involvement in the scam.

He said last week that certain parties were conspiring to use
the Bulog scandal to discredit Gus Dur's inner circle, of which
Alwi is a member.

"I see the big scenario here," he said.

Both Gus Dur and Alwi left on a two-week eight-nation tour on
Wednesday.

Bondan Gunawan, another member of the inner circle, resigned
from his powerful secretary of state post last Monday amid
allegations that he too had benefited from the Bulog scandal.

Bulog deputy chairman Sapuan lost his job and is now in police
custody as one of two prime suspects in the scandal. He allegedly
ordered the disbursement of the Yanatera money in January, after
failing to secure the approval from his chief, Kalla.

Sapuan and his lawyers said he disbursed the money after
unrelenting pressure from Suwondo, Gus Dur's long-time masseur,
and also believed that he was acting on the President's order
based on their meeting in January at the palace.

The whereabouts of businessman Suwondo remains a mystery. His
wife, Teti Nursetiati, has returned Rp 10 billion of the money to
Yanatera via the police. She claims not to know where her husband
is hiding.

Separately, Yusuf, who was in Jakarta on Friday, told
journalists that the key to the case was Suwondo.

"The most important thing is to find Suwondo and find out who
he really is," Yusuf said.

He said he was ready to be summoned by the House of
Representatives, to which he would give statements similar to
those he gave to Makassar Police investigators.

"It will be about the fact that Suwondo asked Sapuan for the
money and I demanded a written request from the President, which
they did not provide," Yusuf added.

Separately, Jakarta Police officers -- led by chief of
detectives Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo -- inspected a 106-hectare
plot of land in Sindangbarang district in Cianjur, West Java,
said to have been bought by Suwondo from Hendrie Arioseno for Rp
15 billion. It is assumed he paid with part of the money
embezzled from Yanatera.

The money allegedly went to the bank account of Suko Sudarso,
Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle's (PDI Perjuangan)
research and development department deputy head, who has been
named a witness in the case.

Initially, Alex told reporters, who accompanied the police
team during the eight-hour trip from Jakarta to Cianjur, that he
and his men were going to seize the land and hand over the
certificates to the Bulog foundation.

Later at the site, he said they were there only to inspect the
land and as yet did not know whether to seize it or not. Alex
gave no clear reason.

Covering seven villages, the land, currently used by local
farmers to plant, among other things, paddy and coconut trees,
was said to be developed by Suwondo for an agrotourism site.

Local residents who sold their land said their property was
bought in 1995 by businessman Hans Gunawan at Rp 225 per square
meter. Hans, they said, sold the land to Hendrie.

"Rp 15 billion is too much. Even today, the price here is only
between Rp 1,000 and Rp 1,500 per square meter," said Ijup
Marzuki, 60, a local.

Yanatera representatives, who also accompanied the police to
Cianjur, said the foundation would not accept the land in place
of money.

"Yanatera wants its money back, not land, because (Bulog)
workers do not need land. Suwondo borrowed money from us,"
Kamaruddin Jamal of Yanatera said.

In response, officer Alex said the police had nothing to do
with the business side of the case.

"We're dealing only with the crime. That's it," he said.

By Thursday, Rp 15 billion of the Rp 35 billion fund embezzled
from Yanatera had been returned to the foundation. The first Rp
10 billion was returned by Suwondo's wife, Teti Nursetiati, and
the other Rp 5 billion by businessman Aris Junaedi, who claimed
to have borrowed the money from Suwondo without knowing the
initial source of the money. (dja/08/bsr)